The Wealth Consigliere

During the pandemic I have had a lot of downtime in the 200+ days. During this time I have decided to write a book using the guidance of Soren Kierkegaard . One of his many famous thoughts was “Life must be lived forward, but only can be understood backwards”. This week I’ll summarize three of the chapters in my upcoming book.  A Coke a Day In many sales jobs we use a script to insure we discuss all of the features our firm wants us to sell. My first sales job was selling new cars. We learned many sales quips to sell the car. My favorite script was to share that it looks like we are down to a Coke a Day to make the final decision. I would end the script with a question. Do you need anyone else’s permission to buy a Coke?  The answer to this rhetorical question was No.  I would close the sale by saying since we don’t need anyone’s permission. Let’s sign the contract  for your new car!  The script also taught me what I didn’t want use a script  in my next job...

The pandemic has showed us several items in our business and our economy that need to be improved. This week we will share components that need to be reduced and several new ideas we should add with the money we save. Cuts and changes are never easy but we will offset the cost savings with an equal amount of new professionals. Take a deep breath because none of our cost cutting ideas will be the from the founders. Hopefully, our recommendations will allow us all to make more after we have a vaccine.  Experts The complexity of a credible wealth advisory solution requires numerous experts.  Historically we have outsourced this need and created a “my client” argument.  The top independent firms have all of the experts under one roof.  Many experts are being pushed out of their current firms and are looking for a new team.  Our industry has  experienced professionals being displaced in the accounting and brokerage businesses before.  The next experts we ne...

  This week I was thrilled to read No Rules, Rules . It reminded me of the great professionals I have worked with that didn’t want to be told what to do. They could figure out their own superior solution to the Ivory Tower. This week I will summarize how we can apply Netflix’s ideas to the independent wealth advisory business.  We don’t have any movies, but we now have technology and a an advisor mindset that we can apply.  Brady Belichick Kraft Netflix reminds us that we are not family, we are a team. This speaks to me as a man, apologies to Kenzie Grant, and to my wife and two daughters . As a team we must hold all of our teammates to a high standard. If they can’t make the grade we need to replace them. If they do make the grade we need to pay them a free agent wage. Our teammates want to be a part of our team because we win and our success will trickle down to them and help attract great advisors and clients.  Tools Great teams have the money to spend on great ...

  Many of us are still at home hoping doctors and drug companies can achieve Herd Immunity. While social media won’t solve COVID it does distract. My favorite distractions are listened below.  Education   The Bomb educates us how people helped create the atom bomb.  It also describes the conflicts on the team. Hope Through History  History shows us that this is not our first crisis. It Was Said   Great speeches stick in our heart   Amended   The struggle of women inspires  Behind The Talent   Many of us are looking for a new job.  This podcast can help.   Entertainment   Billionaire Boys Club   Recent graduates try to get rich quick. Even The Rich   Rich families are dysfunctional too.  I’m spending more time trying to educate myself for my next professional chapter.